All Too Hard makes it look all too easy

Patrick Bartley

THOSE involved in the $25 million purchase of one of Australia's finest three-year-olds, All Too Hard, breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday when the colt made a triumphant return to racing in the group 1 Orr Stakes.

All Too Hard, a younger half-brother to the world's fastest mare, Black Caviar, has not only ensured a vice-like grip on the three-year-old classics both here in Melbourne and Sydney in the autumn but also keeps alive the hope of a trip to Royal Ascot in England later this year.

Co-trainer Wayne Hawkes, while admitting that the training partnership of his brother Michael and father John is always under pressure given the price paid for All Too Hard, maintains that the son of Casino Prince is not at his peak yet.

''We were happy with him coming into the race today and he did a great job. But you must remember, we haven't screwed him down, so there's improvement to come.

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''He's a big boy, he's a valuable boy and there are a number of ways we could go, but I think we'll see him in the Australian Guineas.

''I just think a race like the Australian Cup and the distance it is makes it difficult. But there's seven or so other plans we could take. Let's just wait and see,'' he said.

Hawkes said it was ''nonsense'' to label All Too Hard a racehorse who was better suited to the Melbourne way of going than the Sydney way. ''We'll prove it to them when we get back to Sydney. But I haven't got the slightest problem with him being just as good in both states,'' he said.

''Remember that his first run in Sydney - I think it was in the Pago Pago - that was over 1100 metres and the Orr Stakes today was over 1400. So, he is far better suited to the extra trip.''

Champion two-year-old Sepoy's younger brother Mulaazem may, however, miss the Australian Guineas after he won Saturday's Autumn Stakes.

Trainer Peter Moody said Mulaazem had improved greatly but he was concerned not to push the horse to a longer distance considering his sprinting pedigree.

''Remember he is a brother to a very good sprinter who wasn't pushed up in distance. So, what we might do with him is go to Sydney and perhaps look for races like the George Ryder as his ultimate goal,'' Moody said.

And the same two three-year-olds that bravely fought out last November's Victoria Derby filled the placings behind Mulaazem.

The Anthony Cummings-trained Five And A Half Stars fought on tenaciously to finish second.

And Super Cool, who finished behind Five And A Half Stars in the Derby, also made a fine return to racing with an unlucky third in Saturday's Autumn Stakes.